Kavanaugh Disclosure Reveals Big Baseball-Related Debt

Monsignor John Enzler, left, President and CEO of Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of Washington, smiles at Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after serving meals to the homeless as he volunteers with... (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

(Newser)
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Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh appears to have had something of a soft spot for the Washington Nationals, to put it mildly: He went tens of thousands of dollars in debt buying baseball tickets over the last decade, according to the White House. Kavanaugh, who reported having between $60,000 and $200,000 debt in 2016 on a financial disclosure form, spent the money on season tickets and playoff tickets for himself and friends, White House spokesman Raj Shah tells the Washington Post. Shah says the friends reimbursed Kavanaugh—who earns around $220,000 a year as a federal judge, plus teaching income—and he has now stopped buying baseball tickets. Shah says the debt was paid off early last year and Kavanaugh and his wife now have no debt apart from a mortgage on their home.

The debt, carried on three credit cards and a loan also included home expenses, the White House says. According to the disclosure form, Kavanaugh currently has a total of two investments with a combined worth of less than $65,000, which would make him among the poorest judges on the court, the AP reports. The disclosure does not, however, include the equity on his Maryland home and a retirement account balance of up to $500,000, which add up to another $1 million, the White House says. Jen Kirby at Vox predicts that Kavanaugh will face probing questions about the disclosure during the nomination process—especially about how the debt of up to $200,000 was suddenly paid off. (The mother of a classmate of one of Kavanaugh's two daughters says she can definitely vouch for him as a "carpool dad.")

"Kavanaugh Disclosure Reveals Big Baseball-Related Debt" Actually what it REVEALS to me is: 1) He is obviously a very kind and big hearted trusting person to put out that much money for his friends and relatives. 2) That his friends and relatives are very lucky to have such a friend. 3) He is a good judge of people if they all repaid his advances of money.